India votes in favour of UNSC resolution on mental health of UN peacekeepers.

December 22, 2022

India has voted in favour of a UNSC resolution on the mental health of UN peacekeepers.
Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed a resolution on mental health and psychosocial support for personnel of UN peace operations.
Mexico initiated the draft resolution on mental health and psychosocial support. The draft resolution will be the first stand-alone Security Council resolution on mental health.
The draft text is open for co-sponsorship by the wider UN membership.
The draft resolution recognises the need to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and psychosocial support for UN peace operations personnel.

What are UN Peacekeeping Forces?

About:
- When the UN Security Council approved the deployment of UN military observers to the Middle East in 1948, the UN Peacekeeping Forces were established.
- UN peacekeeping forces aid nations in negotiating the perilous transition from war to peace.
- To carry out several missions approved by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the UN General Assembly, it deploys soldiers and police from all over the world and combines them with civilian peacekeepers.
- International Day of UN Peacekeepers is celebrated on date 29^th May every year.
  - 2022 Theme: Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.
- India and UNPKF:
  - India is among the nations that send the most troops to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.
    - Example: India is the second-highest military and fifth-highest police contributing country to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
  - Over 2,60,000 Indians have served in 49 U.N. Peacekeeping missions since 1948.
  - In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all-women contingent to a UN Peacekeeping mission.
  - In the last six decades,179 Indian soldiers have died in UN Peacekeeping operations.
  - Among “blue helmets” it has the greatest death toll of any nation.
    - Blue Helmets are the military personnel of the UN that work alongside the UN Police and civilian colleagues to promote “stability, security, and peace processes”.